Night was falling quickly on the area. The sun had disappeared behind the hillside several minutes before, which meant that when the two women left Klugen’s home, it would be well after dark. Adriana hoped the woman wasn’t someone who went to bed early. If she was even the right person.
She turned onto a set of concrete steps that led up to a path cutting through the front yard and walked warily toward the worn wooden door on the lower floor. The front façade of the house had a few large windows looking out over the valley and river below. Adriana figured that the views, especially in the morning when the sun was rising, had to be magnificent.
Fifteen feet from the house, a woman’s voice startled the two visitors with a traditional German greeting.
“Hallo!”
They spun around and saw a woman with short brown hair standing on the street. She had a red leash looped in one hand. On the other end, a German shepherd panted happily, ears perked to the sky as he stared off into the forest at some woodland creature that caught his attention.
Adriana glanced questioningly at Allyson and then back at the woman. “Frau Klugen?” she asked, using her best German pronunciation.
“No,” the woman replied in German, smiling. “She is gone on holiday. My name is Ingrid. I live up the street. Are you friends of hers?”
“Yes. We were traveling through the area and thought we would surprise her.” Adriana feigned disappointment. Actually, she wasn’t faking it. But her disappointment was focused on the fact that Klugen wasn’t home. That meant their investigation just came to a grinding halt.
“Ah, she decided to go visit some relatives in the north for a few days. I believe they were going to visit the coast. It was a spontaneous decision, I think. She only told me about it two days ago. I’ve been getting her mail since then.”
That was a relief. Adriana and Allyson were both immediately concerned that the woman would be suspicious as to why they were there and unaware that Klugen was not. After all, friends should know things like that.
The helpful neighbor continued. “I’ll be sure to tell her you came by.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Adriana blurted, much faster than she’d meant to. “I’ll tell her myself.” She turned to Allyson and whispered, “We need to leave.”
“But we don’t have what we came for,” Allyson hissed through a toothy smile.
Adriana’s nostrils flared. “We will. Sometimes, to win a battle you have to retreat.” She grinned at the neighbor and started walking back toward the street. “Thank you so much for letting us know. Perhaps we will see her next time we visit.”
“You’re very welcome.”
The dog’s attention diverted to the approaching women, its eyes wide and ears still pointing up. It wagged its tail happily, which was a relief. In their line of work, the things they feared the most weren’t alarm systems or guns. It was dogs. Animals were unpredictable. They could change course in a second and go from friendly to deadly. They were loud, sometimes more attention getting than an alarm. Fending off a dog’s bite was difficult too because their movements were hard to anticipate. They could snap one way and then another, and their attacks were extremely persistent. Their primal instinct to kill was powerful once it kicked into high gear. For now, the neighbor’s dog appeared to just be happy to get a little fresh air and a brisk walk.
“Have a wonderful evening,” Adriana said as she reached the bottom of the steps and veered right down the street.
“You too,” the lady said. “Good evening.”
Once the woman was to their back and walking in the other direction, Adriana picked up her pace.
Out of earshot, Allyson protested their departure. “What are we doing? We need to get in that house.”
“I know. But we can’t very well go in there right now, can we? That nosey neighbor will call the police.”
Allyson looked back over her shoulder and then again at Adriana as they turned the corner and descended the hill toward the river. “Why don’t we just take her out?”
It was a simple enough question. And it gave a huge insight into Allyson’s character. She didn’t care about anyone but herself. And no one would stand in her way. Just one sentence said it all.
Adriana stopped next to a large juniper bush and faced the blonde. “Take her out? You mean kill her?” She put her hands on her hips and stared in disbelief.
Allyson shrugged. “I was thinking more along the lines of knocking her out, but sure, if you want to kill her.”
Adriana’s head shook rapidly back and forth. “What? No, I don’t want to kill her. Are you crazy? Do you just go around killing people all the time?”
“When the need arises.”
Without responding, Adriana twisted to the right and started walking again.
“Wait. What are we going to do? Just walk away? You won’t get your dad back if we don’t get in that house, you know.” Allyson hurried after her.
“We aren’t leaving. We’re just going somewhere to wait.”
“Where are we going? What are we waiting for?”
Adriana’s gaze stayed on the road ahead. When she spoke, she didn’t look at Allyson. “You’re a thief, Allyson. It’s time you start thinking like one. Where doesn’t matter. We’re waiting until dark, and then we’re going to do what we do best. We’ll break into Klugen’s home and look for anything that relates to the missing Rembrandt. When we find it, we make a note of the information and leave the house exactly as we found it. Understood?”
It all made sense now. If she was honest, Allyson was angry with herself for not conceiving the same plan. Fatigue had taken its toll, though, and she wasn’t thinking clearly.
“Understood.”
Adriana’s tone grew even more serious, carrying a warning with it. “I mean it. We leave the house as we find it. Don’t get any ideas about stealing anything.”
“I got you. I won’t take anything. Jeez. You act as if I’m a kleptomaniac or something. I have self-control.”
“You wanted to kill that nice neighbor lady back there.”
“Knock her unconscious,” Allyson corrected.
“Either way, it’s barbaric. It wouldn’t kill you to learn a little discretion.”
Allyson’s eyes narrowed, full of contempt. She kept her thoughts to herself as anger boiled up inside her. Yeah? Well, being so soft might end up killing you.
11
Darkness descended rapidly over the city. The town’s lights flickered to life around dusk and soon were doing their best to mirror the clear, starry sky above with a constant yellowish glow from windows, streetlights, clock towers, and doorways.
“Can we please go?” Allyson groaned.
The two thieves sat on a bench near the edge of the river. For the last hour, they’d sat waiting, watching the rapidly flowing water rush by. A chill had settled in the area, and they both took lightweight windbreakers out of their rucksacks. Along with one change of clothes, they were the only protection against the elements that the women had with them. Better to travel light and be mobile than be over prepared and not be able to get away from a fight.
“Yes. I think we’ve waited long enough,” Adriana conceded. Some of the nearby homes were already plunging into darkness as the owners switched off the interior lights for the night. A few others remained on and mingled with the flashing colors of television screens.
Klugen’s home blended in with the dark, forested hillside. It was perfect, ripe for the picking as far as the two thieves were concerned. They’d watched from down below as the neighbor returned from walking her dog and disappeared into the house two doors down. The location of the animal’s home was less than optimal. Passing by could potentially set the dog off in a frenzy of barking and would raise the suspicions of the owner. But that was a risk they’d just have to take.